394 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



[No. 208. 



the A is " a recent attempt to introduce a mispro- 

 nunciation," as I have known that mode of pro- 

 nunciation all but universally prevalent for nearly 

 the last forty years ; and I have had pretty good 

 opportunities for observing what the general usage 

 in that respect was, as I was for some years at a 

 very large public school, then at Oxford for more 

 than the usual time, and have since resided in 

 London more than twenty-five years, practising 

 as a barrister in Westminster Hall, and on one of 

 the largest circuits. If, therefore, I have not had 

 ample means of judging as to the pronunciation of 

 humble, I know not where the means are to be 

 found ; especially as I doubt whether humble and 

 humbly are anywhere so frequently used as in 

 courts : a counsel rarely making a speech without 

 '■^humbly submitting" or making a '■'■humble ap- 

 plication." Now the result of my experience is, 

 that the h is almost universally sounded ; and at 

 this moment I cannot call to mind a single gen- 

 tleman who omits it, who does not also omit it in 

 many other instances where no doubt can exist 

 that it ought to be sounded. 



Mr. Dawson believes the sounding the h to be 

 " one of those, either Oxford, or Cambridge, or 

 both, peculiarities of which no reasonable expla- 

 nation can be given." Now I believe Mr. Daw- 

 son is right in supposing that that usage is general 

 both at Oxford and Cambridge, and I rather 

 think that not only an explanation of the fact may 

 be given, but that the fact itself, that in both the 

 Universities the h is sounded, is extremely cogent 

 evidence that it is correct. It cannot be doubted 

 that the fact that a word is spelled with certain 

 letters is clear proof that, at the time when that 

 spelling was adopted, the word was so sounded as 

 to give a distinct sound to each of the letters used, 

 and that clearly must have been the case with 

 words beginning with h especially. When, there- 

 fore, the present spelling of humble was adopted, 

 the h was sounded. Now, whilst I freely admit 

 that the utterance of any word may be changed — 

 " Si volet usus, quem penes arbitrium est, et jus et 

 norma loquendi" — still it cannot be questioned 

 that the usage must be so general, clear, and dis- 

 tinct among the better educated classes (where- 

 ever they may have received their education) as 

 to leave no reasonable doubt about the matter ; 

 and that it lies on those who assert that such a 

 change has taken place, to show such a usage as I 

 have mentioned. And when the number of the 

 members of the Universities is considered, and 

 their position as men of education, it must at least 

 admit of doubt whether, if a general usage pre- 

 vailed among them to pronounce a particular word 

 in the manner in which it originally was pro- 

 nounced, this would not alone prevent a different 

 pronunciation among others from having that 

 general prevalence, which would be sufficient to 

 justify a change in the utterance of such word. 



But let us consider whether the usage of the 

 Universities is not very cogent evidence that the 

 h is generally sounded throughout England, 1. 

 Each University contains a large number of the 

 higher and better educated classes. 2. The mem- 

 bers come from all parts of England indiscrimi- 

 nately. 3. Infinitely the majority come from 

 schools ; and some of the large schools have gene- 

 rally many members at each University. By such 

 persons the pronunciation of the schools cannot 

 fail to be represented. 4. Every one on entering 

 the University is expected at least to know his 

 own language. 5. There is no instruction, as far 

 as I know (however much the fact may be to be 

 regretted), ever given in English at either Univer- 

 sity. 6. There is a perpetual change of about a 

 third of the members every year, few remaining 

 above three years. Now can any one, who can- 

 didly considers these facts, doubt that a usage in 

 pronouncing a particular word at either Univer- 

 sity, if generally prevalent, is very strong evi- 

 dence that the same usage is generally prevalent 

 throughout England ; but if any one does enter- 

 tain such a doubt, surely it must be done away, 

 when he finds that the same usage prevails at both 

 Universities ; though there exists such a degree 

 of rivalry between them as would prevent the one 

 from adopting from the other any usage which 

 was liable to any the least doubt, and though 

 there is no communication between them that 

 could account for the same usage prevailing in both. 



Mr. Crosslet appeals to the Prayer Book as a 

 decisive authority, and instances " an humble," &c. 

 If any one will examine the Prayer Book, he will 

 find that it is no authority at all; as "an" is at 

 least as often used erroneously before h as not. 

 In reading over the first sixty-eight Psalms, I 

 found the following instances : — Ps. xxvii. 3. and 

 Ps. xxxiii. 15., " An host of men ;" Ps. xlvii. 4. and 

 Ps. Ixi. 5., "An heritage;" Ps. xlix. 18., "An 

 happy man;" Ps. Iv. 5., "An horrible dread;" 

 Ps. Ixviii. 15., " An high hill." And in the same 

 Psalms I only found one instance of a before h, 

 viz. in Ps. xxxiii. 16., "A horse;" and in this 

 case the Bible version has " An horse." In the 

 first Lesson for the 19th Sunday after Trinity, 

 Dan. iii. 4., "An herald," and 27., "An hair of 

 their head," occur ; and in the next chapter (iv. 

 13.), "An holy one." It is plain from these in- 

 stances (and doubtless many others may be found), 

 that the use of " an " before h, in the Bible or 

 Prayer Book, can afford no test whatever whether 

 the h ought to be sounded or not. S. G. C. 



After the sensible Note of your correspondent 

 E. H., it is perhaps hardly necessary to say more 

 on the subject of aspirated and mute h. If these 

 remarks, therefore, seem superfluous, they may 

 easily be suppressed, and that too without any 

 offence to the writer. 



